The People vs. Democracy

Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It

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The world is in turmoil. From India to Turkey and from Poland to the United States, authoritarian populists have seized power. As a result, democracy itself may hang in the balance.

When asked if it's important to live in a democracy, two-thirds of Americans born in the 1930s and 1940s say yes. But less than one-third of those born after 1980 think this is important. Moreover, one in four millennials think democracy is a bad way to run a country.

Harvard University lecturer and New America fellow Yascha Mounk has been studying this sea change–and warning about the dangers threatening the survival of democracy–for years. Combining narrative reportage with compelling data from his own research, Mounk makes clear in The People Vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save Itwhat exactly is at risk if the current trends in America and Western Europe continue. Astounding numbers of people in all age, economic, and social groups are more open to military rule, media controls, and other hallmarks of authoritarianism than ever before. To reverse the trend, politicians need to enact radical reforms that benefit the many, not the few.

Join New America NYC for a conversation with Yascha Mounk and Masha Gessen on how we got here and what changes must be made in order to resuscitate this form of government before it is too late.

PARTICIPANTS

Yascha Mounk@Yascha_MounkSenior Fellow, Political Reform Program, New AmericaAuthor, The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It

Masha Gessen @MashaGessenStaff Writer, The New YorkerAuthor, The Future is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia